Online retailer Shop.ca has made a significant upgrade to its storefront, powered by an upgrade of its core consumer facing operating system to IBM WebSphere Commerce Server Feature Pack 5.

According to the e-tailer, the upgrade will allow larger loads of new products to be displayed and offered without hampering the online shopping experience, as well as improved search, improved navigation experience for SHOP.CA customers and new rich internet shopping experiences. Feature Pack 5 also offers improved SEO performance and the ability to launch more compelling customer promotions based on what the customer is searching on and viewing.

With the launch of a new back-end tech service called Shop.ca Services, Canadian e-commerce leader Shop.ca says it hopes to make e-commerce solutions more accessible to small and medium-sized businesses by providing e-commerce

Run with this Goldilocks and the three bears analogy for Canadian e-commerce: the consumer is Goldilocks and three different e-commerce sites represent her options in the bear’s home.Goldilocks has them open in three

“(We) continue to develop our technology to improve our customer experience and the value we create for our marketplace partners is a critical component of our day-to-day focus,” said Drew Green, CEO and co-founder of Shop.ca, in a statement.

IBM and Shop.ca worked together on the early rollout, providing feedback IBM hopes to share with other e-commerce customers, and IBM notes the code for Websphere’s Feature Pack 5 was developed here in Canada.

“WebSphere Commerce Server is now running on the advanced search solution which allows for Shop.ca to take advantage of better phrase and relevance matching and merchandising capabilities, ultimately creating an improved customer experience,” said Rick Power, smarter commerce brand leader for IBM in Canada, in a statement.

Jeff Jedras is a technology journalist with IT World Canada and a member of the IT Business team. He began his career in technology journalism in the late 1990s, covering the Ottawa technology sector for Silicon Valley North and the Ottawa Business Journal. He later covered the technology scene in Vancouver before joining IT World Canada in Toronto in 2005, covering enterprise IT for ComputerWorld Canada and the channel for Computer Dealer News. His writing has also appeared in the Vancouver Sun & the Ottawa Citizen.